Lists are everywhere – and articles built around them, often called listicles, are endemic. Easily digested and simple to share, some firms (eg, Buzzfeed) have surged on the back of listicles. But do lists still have impact?

List articles don’t seem to be going out of fashion. Yet. Inside our scorched brain-scapes they can quash the pain of taking in too much information – mighty handy for absorbing benefits in a jiffy.

6 ways eggs can scramble a hangover.

7 secrets scrooge lenders don’t want you to know.

9 winning habits of leading nuns.

You get the idea.

But in the scrum to capture eyeballs it’s often easy to make mistakes with your aspiring hit-list. So you should remember a few nifty tips. Like, say, four…

1. Avoid padding

Don’t stretch your list to nine if you only have six things really worth shouting about.

2. Know when to say when

If you must impart 17 ways to get your marketing firing like a hot piston, how many will readers remember? The components may all be worth their weight in rare ink, but few people take the time to study a long list. Or can feasibly implement their findings. Different rules apply whether a list article is for serious consumption, or just a bit of fun.

3. Beware of sounding like junk

Because so many listicle headings lead to junk articles designed to prosper on ad clicks, sometimes you may have to rein in your heading’s verve. And sometimes, therefore, a little of the magic to avoid sounding like click-bait.

4. No more, I’m whacked

Finally, list fatigue can deaden impact. As with anything popular it’s easy for bombarded minds to tune out if – again on their feed – is another list article with grab-all tentacles. Like overused words (innovative, engage etc), using a certain device too often also nudges readers to snooze.

So use your 50 ways to kill your mammy listicle with caution. Or make sure your list sparkles like Christmas tinsel every time.

 

 

Everybody’s busy. You’re too busy to read this, I’m too busy to write it. But some things should be shared – especially when they can make a difference.

Everyone who runs a business or is involved with marketing is hammered for time.

…Crushed under the weight of limp processes and worst practises.

…Changing tack as events muddy the path – Brexit/competition/staff shortages...

…Reports on progress. Reports on morale. An endless snowstorm of reports.

…Non-stop meetings (often about reports).

…Emails… social feeds… phone calls.

But a copywriter doesn’t need to go to meetings which are not an interrogation of relevant facts. And they don’t need to write endless reports.

So they have some time away from the hubbub, but it’s not empty time – because 30-40% of what a copywriter does should be thinking. (Research/writing about the same.)

Thinking about the audience and what they want. What suitable products or services you have to lure them. The often-hidden nuggets of a product or service that set you apart. Whose name should go with the message? How fast can we get some scrummy testimonials? What channel or media might work best? And on and on.

Thoughts – which lead to questions – which lead to answers – which lead to words that can make a difference.

A decent copywriter should be seen as a right-hand sense-check for anyone who has to make marketing decisions – because it’s all too easy for you to get swamped in managing people and processes. Or looking after your customers from day to day.

And they can also help you to avoid the thinking traps of availability bias (where recent or vivid information influences how we think) and confirmation bias (where we rely more on views we already hold, despite data to the contrary). Not to mention our natural tendency towards overconfidence…

Writers have a close connection to the reader. They think about them constantly as they write to them. They wear their shoes and often much more.

Consider a valued copywriter as an extra thinking cap – not just someone who bluntly etches words on a screen or page. A copywriter should have the spirit and outlook of a business person.

Because if you want to write to people you want them to do something. And that’s worth thinking about.

 

 *Almost, because (a) flattery works, and (b) no sane copywriter would insinuate they have the mental vigour of a harried business owner or marketer.

In that heading: four words guaranteed to make me gnaw my knuckles to the bone (not How, help, you, to, with, your). And if you’re reading this far I’m a little ashamed of myself for any deceit. But thank you anyway.

 It’s not that I necessarily dislike any of the offending words above, but some – especially used in the wrong context – damage what you want to say. Through overuse, because they are jargon and because they don’t make enough sense.

Seemingly innocent terms can become toxic. They dilute the good things you say and can cause readers to glaze over and tune out. They’ve heard it all before, or what you’re trying to say is not clear.

Words are not toxic by their strength, but by their weakness.

 For example – and I have to pinch myself to stop swearing – but…

-        What are stationery ‘solutions’? (Solutions should only be used when talking about a liquid, or when you’ve got to grips with Fermat’s last theorem.)

-        Instead of ‘engaging’ with customers why not talk or write to them?

-        And ‘stakeholders’ sound like an angry herd who are about to impale you.

-        ‘Holistic’ just mystifies me. But it may be suitable in the arena of mystics and therapies and so on.

When words are overused they lose meaning. Remember when ‘innovative’ truly meant an advance? It was reserved for a new car design from Pininfarina, a blizzard of wizardry from Nabokov, when a phone grew a screen.

Innovative should never be used for a dry cleaner on the high street. Nor should a ‘disruptive’ delivery service spur much confidence.

Presenting these examples like so may sound flippant, but the point is serious. I understand very well that a company hammered for time can find it difficult to scrutinise everything you need to rush out.

Sometimes the conditions of herd behaviour and social influence play a part – terms can quickly gain traction (and ubiquity) when popularised by funky tech start-ups or entrepreneurial culture.

And it’s not the fault of a small business for using ‘innovative property solutions’ on a hoarding, because they might not hire a copywriter to help them compose their messages. (Different skills – I wouldn’t know one end of an engine from the other.)

But you should be worried when flaky lingo persistently creeps into what you say to your customers.

Because they’ll switch off, have a little snooze, and go find your straight-talking competitors when they wake up.

 

For any communications that you produce – from a letter to a website – there is a concrete go-to list of marketing guidelines you should use.

Think about who the piece is for. Is it relevant to the reader now? What’s the main message (or selling point) you want to get across? What makes your investment fund or carpet shop better (or different) than the competition? And so on. All solid principles, all part of a well-established checklist in marketing 101.

These basic elements are often ignored. Important company messages are lost in the scrum because of furious deadlines or because a ‘key stakeholder’ wants to inject some gobbledygook. Or because the chairman likes to sponsor lacrosse.

But that’s good for those in business who care about what works and what doesn’t. Straight away you have an advantage over firms who put out wishy-washy messages.

Yet there is more you can do – more ways to nudge people towards choosing you.

Science lurks behind all of this, but you only need to know what works – not why

Many behavioural insights have emerged over the past 40 years or so, which highlight how we actually behave. We often act irrationally, make decisions without thinking and behave in predictable ways.

Because that’s how we are wired as social animals.

Some of these insights are fairly technical, because big-brained scientists and psychologists produce them. But you don’t need to fathom the research that underpins their findings – just know the traits we all carry that encourage people to choose your product or service.

Whether that’s your carpets, your investments, your law firm or your pasta menu.

Cheers, I owe you one

For example, the effects of reciprocation – where we feel obliged to return a favour – have long been recognised.

Companies often offer a free gift (eg: a pen, a bag) to readers just for asking for more information about a product. This act is not a glitch that leaves their accountants foaming – it’s because people are more inclined to look kindly on someone (or an organisation) that has given them something first. People believe in fair play.

This tendency has been documented in many research papers. It was famously evidenced in an experiment by sociologists Phillip Kunz and Michael Woolcott in 1976.

      The researchers sent out a varied sample of Christmas cards to 578 people they didn’t know. Staggeringly, 20% of people who received the cards – from complete strangers – replied in kind. Without even asking the senders whether they knew them or not.

      The perceived status of the senders was also very instructive. If a card was purportedly sent by a doctor or lawyer, this greatly increased the chance of a reply. Even in the act of reciprocation, credibility matters.

So if you work for a firm with some recognised expertise and want to increase consideration, why not offer something that may be valuable to your readers? This could be a timely report on emerging markets from an investment firm or a tasty home-cooked recipe from a restaurant chain.

Or send a Christmas card to anyone.

 

Welcome to Nudge Copywriting, a new copywriting service that helps businesses large and small to write clearer – and persuades their readers to act.

Please take a look around and see how we can help. Whether you need something written, or help with deciding how to most effectively get your messages out.

We’ve worked in most marketing mediums over the past 17 years – from websites to TV scripts to press ads to brochures. Our portfolio gives you an idea about what we can do for you: this is refreshed as we work on new projects.

Blog posts will be regular, so check back and see if there is something you may find useful. These posts generally cover practical ways to help your business – mostly through your communications – and common aspects of how people behave that you can use in your favour.

• Pieces about how fascinating traits such as reciprocation, authority and social proof can boost your consideration from customers
• Solid marketing and copywriting principles that still work hard across all media and new-tech-on-the-block
• Mistakes – some I have made, some we experience others make and steps you can take to reduce mistakes in your business.

The tone may sometimes be a little light, but the points will always be serious. Because being in business demands attention to details that can make a difference.

Meanwhile, if you need a helpful nudge right now, please get in touch.

Nudge is part of VoodooVista Ltd, a marketing company I set up over three years ago. In blog posts and for my bio, I use ‘I’ (because it’s about me, or my opinion), but generally ‘we’ is used. Because a company offers more than the skills of one person – sometimes we partner with other writers who have specific expertise (eg, personal finance, aviation) or with specialists such as graphic designers and video producers.